


As The World Goes By, Where Do We End Up?

by Blue_Valkyrie



Category: Fairy Tail, Naruto
Genre: M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:20:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25324558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Valkyrie/pseuds/Blue_Valkyrie
Summary: In a world long after the rest of the ninjas are dead and the chakra coils of people are deteriorated, only Naruto and Sasuke remain due to the influence of the Sage of Six Paths. In its place, a new power arose: Magic. Something more versatile than Chakra but more limited in supply. After centuries, they settled on the early Tenrou Island and discovered a little orphaned girl. They take the girl under their wing and raise her as their own.Obviously more happens than this, but that would spoil too much.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 39
Kudos: 49





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Frankly, I never thought I’d ever get around to posting this. I simply wrote it as a side piece out of curiosity. It has been sitting in my google docs for about a year, and a friend who I told about it finally convinced me to post it. I have no idea if I will continue it. I always try to accept constructive criticism, so feel free to leave your opinions etc in the comments. Other than that, enjoy!

To be quite honest, Naruto and Sasuke had lived long lives. It was heartbreaking to watch their spouses and children die. Most of all, it was difficult to watch the shinobi race die out.

Years passed, and the pair had made a home of Tenrou island. It was a peaceful place and rather secluded. Nature Chakra had come to be known as Ethernano as humans adapted to passively absorbing it. It seemed that the ability to use their bodily chakra all but disappeared. The shinobi pair didn’t really have much of a use for learning magic, as they already had a strong source of power. That didn’t stop them from reading about it though.

When Blue Skull attacked, Naruto and Sasuke were away from the island on an errand. When they returned, they were devastated. There was no one left, save for a little girl named Mavis and her imaginary friend, Zera. With Mavis as the only one left, the pair took her in.

As Mavis grew older, she became rather studious. Since Naruto and Sasuke knew rather little about magic, they let her continue on her own path. They allowed her to study it for years until a ship came to the island, sparking her infant desire to travel.

Naruto and Sasuke themselves were done with travel, and opted to stay on the island. Mavis was a mage, and they fully believed that she could protect herself. They had taken the liberty of giving her some hand to hand combat training. They didn’t train her in the ways of a shinobi because their time was dead and humans no longer had the capability to use bodily chakra.

It wasn’t until they received a message from Yuri Dreyar that Mavis was essentially in a coma that they left the island. With their ability to run on water at near superhuman speeds, it was easy to reach Magnolia in less than a day.

When they arrived, they wasted no time finding Mavis’ Ethernano container signature. They came as an elder woman was assessing their adoptive daughter. Naruto shed tears when he discovered that the girl they had raised would not age past twelve. Sasuke was just barely holding himself back from tears when she was diagnosed with Ankhseram’s Curse. Perhaps as shinobi they would be able to touch the girl they raised together, but it was a huge risk.

When she woke up, Mavis wasn’t angry at them. She was grateful that Naruto and Sasuke had allowed her to grow on her own, even if it came with a steep price. In her fledgeling guild, Mavis requested that they be sealed away for 86 years. So in June of X686, Naruto and Sasuke sealed themselves away to protect the future after she died.

The secret of Naruto and Sasuke sealed away with Mavis under the guild hall was passed down from master to master.

Sooner than expected, 86 years passed. It was June 1st, the day that Naruto and Sasuke were sealed away 86 years ago. It was almost as if the day of reckoning had come. Makarov himself was actually quite eager to meet the two men who raised the First Master. Of course, he was the only one in the guild who knew. Precht was no longer in the guild, and with the little stories regarding their abilities, the former Second Master likely didn’t recognize the pair as a threat. That was fine by Makarov. Of course, he didn’t have much of an inkling of what their abilities were either. That didn’t dumb down his excibastardnt though. They raised the First, and that was a feat in and of itself. And so with shaky hands, Makarov opened the door to the basement of the guild.


	2. Shinobi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me if you spot any spelling or grammar errors. Though I've read over it myself, it is always helpful if someone spots something I can't. I'm posting the first chapter early since the prologue is so short. I'm thinking of posting once a week, but I'm not sure what day. I have enough chapters done to last me for awhile while I write new ones, because I tend to write slow. Other than that, enjoy!

All Naruto and Sasuke knew were each other in the endless darkness that surrounded them. This gave them time to reminisce and understand each other than they had previously.

Naruto’s desire to be Hokage stemmed from his innate desire to value life above all else, no matter the crimes.

Sasuke left Konoha for so long after the war because it felt suffocating. He later discovered that it was a form of PTSD, formed from an accumulation of bad experiences. It had taken Naruto forever to drag that confession out of him.

The world went from a pitch black to a light gray, and they knew that they were waking up. Their 86 years were up. It wasn’t the end though. It was thankfully just the beginning.

Sasuke woke up first, albeit groggily. He groaned and sat up and looked at Naruto, who was laying beside him. Unlike Sasuke, Naruto woke up feeling refreshed. The latter looked at the dwarvish man across from him and spoke for the first time in 86 years. “Who the hell are you?”

The old man chuckled. “My name is Makarov Dreyar, and I am the Third Master of the Fairy Tail guild.”

This time, It was Sasuke who spoke up. “So I presume you’re Yuri Dreyar’s kid. In that case, it’s nice to meet you. I suppose it’s been awhile, hasn’t it?”

Makarov nodded in affirmation. “That I am. It has been awhile too. The current year is X784. I would call you boys, but I am well aware that you are far older than even I,” He chuckled.

Naruto shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t really mind. We never aged physically, so though we are far over the age of thirty mentally, we never felt older than thirty.”

Sasuke nodded in agreement. He was okay to let someone else do the taking care of. “I understand that this is a bit hasty, but I would like to request that Naruto and I take a job. We are going to need money to live in this day and age, and taking from the guild’s funds isn’t an option.”

Makarov sighed. “Normally, I wouldn’t allow this, but you two raised the First. That in and of itself assures that you two are quite capable. She also wouldn’t seal you two in the guild without good reason. For those reasons, I will give you an S-Class quest. Wait here and I’ll grab you a high paying one.” Makarov paled for a moment when he heard a bang from upstairs. “And to ensure that the brats don’t demolish the guild.” Makarov disappeared up the stairs.

Naruto turned to Sasuke. “Hey, so when we were sealed, we never talked about what  _ this  _ is. We raised Mavis together, but we never talked about what we were. I know we opened up a lot during the time we were sealed, but we never touched on this, so what are we?”

Sasuke sighed. “You say it yourself all the time, idiot. You call us best friends. I’m honestly not sure what we are. Best friends? Absolutely. Brothers? No.”

Naruto opened his mouth to protest the latter, but Sasuke kept speaking.

“I had a brother, and I certainly don’t feel as if you are my brother. I’m not sure what we are,” He sighed.

Naruto mulled over his words. “Well, in that case, let’s just continue what it is we’re doing and see where it goes.”

Sasuke seemed satisfied with his answer and not even moments later, Makarov walked down the stairs. He looked a decade older, clenching the piece of paper in his hand tightly.

“Careful Gramps, no need to slaughter our mission,” Naruto chuckled.

Sasuke sighed in embarrassment on Naruto’s behalf. “Show him a little respect, Naruto. He’s the Third Master, not Tsunade.”

Makarov decided in that moment that he liked the pair. They were like the Sun and the Moon. Oh how right he was.

Clearing his throat, he held out the job to the two of them. “Here is your mission. It is SS-Class and worth one billion Jewels*, which is the currency here. Good luck, boys.” Makarov handed them a couple Jewels to buy train tickets and for food etc. “Until you complete this job, the guild will fund you. No arguments,” He added when Naruto opened his mouth to protest.

Sasuke nodded and hauled himself to his feet, stretching out his hand to Naruto to take. Naruto gratefully took it and pulled himself up beside him. He grabbed the job and wrapped his left arm around Sasuke’s shoulder. “Alright, bastard, time to get back to the grind!”

Sasuke grimaced at his choice of words. “Gods, please never say that again.”

Naruto laughed. “Alright Sasuke, teleport us out of here to the train station! I want to get this done and get back!”

The latter let a small smirk appear on his face before they disappeared before Makarov’s eyes.

He could already tell that the pair would fit right into the rambunctious guild. The Third could feel their power, and it was quite overwhelming. It wasn’t magic though. It was something else, something older. Much older. Makarov pushed it to the back of his mind when he heard another crash from upstairs. The brats couldn’t even stay calm for an hour.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke bought some train tickets and boarded their ride. The job was in Bosco, which was a three hour ride. It was a job that was the eradication of a large group of monsters, which kept terrorizing the populus of a small town. The monsters were apparently a herd of wyverns. They had killed several of the townspeople, surprisingly. Apparently, the specific name of the creatures was ‘Bloodvyrn’.

Unlike Blizdardvern and Green Wyverns, Bloodvyrn could hypnotize their prey and control iron, albeit only in large amounts. The legends said that the older Bloodvyrns were strong enough to bend the human bodies to their twisted whims. They said that after consuming so much human blood, they gained control over it.

Naruto and Sasuke would test their mettle. After facing the likes of Kaguya, mutated lizards didn’t seem like much of a problem. That is, until they found out that there were well over one hundred of the scaley beasts.

Sasuke grunted, dodging another round of solid iron pillars. Thanks to his dojutsu, the hypnotization had no effect. The hypnotisation itself was similar to a genjutsu, albeit very crude. He now understood where the bodily control rumors came from.

Naruto was dealing, to put it bluntly. Kurama had him covered on the genjutsu front, but the iron pillars were getting annoying.

Soon, the pair were fighting back to back like a well oiled machine. They didn’t want to use their bigger abilities for fear of crushing the town, but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t have a good ol’ fashioned slaughter.

Sasuke’s  _ Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan _ flared to life. Moments later, a good chunk of the Bloodvyrns erupted into black flames.

Naruto soon caught on, activating his  _ Nine Tails Chakra Mode _ . he hurled several mini  _ Wind Style: Rasenshuriken _ ’s everywhere, decimating the beasts.

They didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell against the two seasoned shinobi. When all the Bloodvyrns were dead, Sasuke set them alight with his  _ Amaterasu  _ after they collected the horns. The job itself had taken less than a couple hours, and they were scheduled to stay for two more weeks.Thankfully the town they were in, Farigo, was a beach town.

Sasuke and Naruto spent the next fortnight in Farigo, enjoying the beach and sun. At the end of the two weeks, they went to collect the large reward. They mayor handed it over when he was handed the horns by the pair of shinobi. With the sum of money under their belts, Naruto and Sasuke returned to Magnolia. Or to be specific, Magnolia’s East Forest.

There they found a clearing surrounded by large trees. It was a perfect spot to build a house. Sasuke went to the local government and purchased the small plot of land while Naruto started to build the house. With his clones, it went by quickly. Sasuke took the liberty of returning with furniture, knowing full well how quickly Naruto could get things done with his clones. And he was right. It only took Naruto two days to build the house.

After raising Mavis together, it would feel quite wrong to live in separate residences. It was almost like second nature to know the other’s routine. Naruto was someone who showered in the morning, while Sasuke was the opposite. He preferred to shower at night and use a black coffee with a little vanilla for flavor to wake himself up in the morning. Naruto surprisingly didn’t like ramen for breakfast and leaned towards something like pancakes. Even though Naruto was a morning person, Sasuke was the better cook of the two. Naruto was somewhat like a dog, shaking Sasuke until he woke up to make food. The latter would always concede, for fear of Naruto setting the kitchen alight.

They slept in different rooms, each getting their own queen-sized bed. They only ever went into each others rooms if the other was having a nightmare. They weren’t as common now, but they still happened. Most of their time together was training or in the den, playing board games or watching movies. They were stored in crystals- lacrimas they called them- nowadays. Naruto and Sasuke still sparred regularly.

After living in their new house for a little under two weeks, the two shinobi decided to pay a visit to the guild. It was about time that they alerted Makarov on the completion of their mission and met their guild mates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The Jewel has a similar exchange rate to the Japanese Yen. 100 Jewels equal about one USD.


	3. A Guild

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you want a summary, read the chapter. That's why it's written. There are no chapter warnings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said I'd post weekly, and I'm fairly sure it's been a week. This chapter is longer and is about the length I hope to have the other chapters to. Its 3.3k for anyone wondering. I will likely go back and edit the prologue and first chapter. I posted them when I didn't quite have a clear direction of where I wanted this story to go. The original version of this chapter and its current version aren't the same. I'm currently working on modifying the third chapter. I'm not sure how long this story will be. I do have it slated to follow the FT series, but its also very long. I'll probably end up combining some shorter arcs and some episodes into a single chapter. If I did 3k per chapter and I had 300 chapters... it would be 900k words. That would be one hell of a story though. It would also be the longest thing I've ever written. Anyways, that's enough of my rambling. Enjoy the chapter!

When they entered the guild, it was in chaos. Sasuke dodged a beer bottle that flew past his head and shattered on the wall. Naruto didn’t seem to be as lucky as his mission partner, having a table thrown his way. The aforementioned shinobi demolished it with a punch. Then a pink haired teen was thrown at them by a raven haired one, which made Sasuke smirk slightly in amusement. They sidestepped apart, letting the pink haired boy make a dent in the wall. He got up and lit his fists on fire, charging at the raven haired one with a war-like cry. The latter of which brought his hands together and seemed to have frost flowing off them. It seemed that he had the ability to use some sort of ice magic. Perhaps that’s why the two were fighting. Ice and fire didn’t mix well. 

It all ground to a halt when a giant black figure appeared. “Mirajane, please take care of our guest,” he spoke, grinding the salmon haired teen beneath his large foot.

“Of course, Master!” ‘Mirajane’ replied cheerily, pulling the new blonde over to the bar. She likely handled the stamps for the guild nowadays.

The giant shrunk to reveal Makarov, who attempted to leap to the railing on the second floor. It was a small fail. He calmly got up and cleared his throat. “You’ve gone and done it again, you bunch of kids! Just take a look at the amount of paperwork the magic council sent me this time! This is the biggest pile of complaints yet! Have you lost your minds?! All you kids are good for are getting the higher ups mad at me!” He grumbled. “However… I say to hell with the magic council.” He grinned and lit the papers on fire, throwing them away into the air. The pink haired teen leapt up and caught it in his mouth and proceeded to eat it. “Now listen up, any power that surpasses reason, still comes from reason, right? Magic isn't some kind of miraculous power. It is a talent that only works when the flow of energy inside of us and the flow of energy in the natural world are in perfect synchronization. To perform magic one must have a strong mind and the ability to focus. It should take over your being and come pouring out of your soul! If all we do is worry about following rules, then our magic will never progress. Don’t let those blowhards on the magic council scare you! Follow the path you believe in, because that’s what makes the Fairy Tail guild number one!” Makarov shouted.

The cheers of the guild rang out, causing Sasuke to smile slightly. “I would say that the Will of Fire has been carried through, even into the times of magic. Wouldn’t you agree, idiot?” There was no malice behind the Uchiha’s words.

“I guess you win this contest then, bastard,” Naruto laughed.

“Contest? Nowhere close, idiot,” The raven haired shinobi smiled.

Absorbed in their conversation, they didn’t notice the guild hall fall silent and look at them.

Makarov cleared his throat and the two shinobi turned to look at him, finally noticing the state of the guild. “Boys, I think it’s time you two introduce yourself to the guild. I know you just got back from the mission, but do let them know who you are.”

Naruto grinned and slapped Sasuke on the back, who glared at him. “I’m Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet ya, ya know!” He waved his left hand, showing off the white guild mark on his palm.

Sasuke pulled off his lone fingerless glove with his teeth, showing them the black guild mark on his right palm. “I’m Sasuke Uchiha, or otherwise known as Impulse Control for the idiot.” A smirk graced his features after his words.

Naruto gaped like a fish, but had no response. “You- you’re not wrong…”

“I know I’m not,” Sasuke scoffed, putting his hand on his hip after slipping his glove back on.

“Hey Master, could we get another quest?” Naruto asked loudly, turning his attention to him. The old man contemplated it for a moment before a kid ran in. His eyes were red rimmed and his hair was disheveled.

“Master, my dad said he would come back in three days from his job on Mt. Hakobe! It’s been a week! You gotta go get him!” The boy babbled. Naruto and Sasuke listened in.

“Your father is a wizard, boy. He can handle himself, so sit down, have some milk and cookies, and wait!” Makarov growled. He seemed to have faith in Macao.

A loud crack rang through the guild hall as the pinkette's fist nearly broke through the request board.

“Natsu! You almost broke the request board,” A man with a necklace of animal skulls exclaimed.

Huh. Natsu was his name, Sasuke thought to himself. That would come in handy if he ever needed to speak to the kid. The aforementioned mage stormed out of the guild with a blue bipedal cat, presumably in pursuit of the boy’s father. Naruto was about to follow suit, and Sasuke didn’t blame him.

“Master Makarov, we’re going after them.” Sasuke spoke as he watched the blonde girl follow the salmon haired boy.

Makarov hummed and nodded his permission. “Take care of those brats, you two.” Sasuke and Naruto nodded before walking out of the guild in pursuit of the trio.

It was easy to catch up to the trio with their naturally enhanced speed. Watching their faces when the two appeared was amusing to say the least. The blonde yelped and the cat clung to the pinked haired one- Natsu- if Sasuke remembered correctly. Naruto laughed a bit at their reactions before proceeding to introduce themselves for the second time that day.

“I’m not sure if you heard at the guild, but I’m Naruto, and this bastard is Sasuke,” He grinned, slapping Sasuke on the back to punctuate his words. Sasuke smacked him with his stump as a reprimand, earning a scandalized gasp from the whiskered blond.

“So why are you here? I don’t remember ever seeing you at the guild. Did Gramps send you with us to get some experience like Luigi here?” Natsu asked, gesturing to ‘Luigi’.

“It’s Lucy!” She growled, seemingly quite irritated at the name mix-up.

“It’s something like that,” Naruto sheepishly chuckled while Sasuke merely shrugged. What did it matter why they were there?

With the topic settled, the group traveled to Mt. Hakobe via a carriage. Sasuke grimaced at the pitiful sight of Natsu. “Is he alright?” Sasuke asked, giving a pointed glance to Natsu.

“Oh, he's okay. Dragon Slayers get motion sickness,” the blue cat explained in a cheery voice, swishing his tail back and forth while chewing on a fish.

“Dragon Slayer?” Naruto asked, trying to get clarification. Dragons hadn’t been around for many centuries.

“It’s the kind of magic that has the ability to slay dragons. Natsu was raised by one. His name was Igneel,” Happy explained. “He spends a lot of time looking for him.”

“I see. I’m sorry that he has that weighing on him,” the Uchiha replied, feeling pity for the young teen. Losing a parental figure was always difficult.

“Sasuke, how do you think we’d fare against a dragon since I have Kurama and you have your Susano’o?” He asked offhandedly.

“I don’t know, and I’m not eager to find out,” The Uchiha grunted back, his mind still slightly occupied by the young slayer.

“Kurama and Susano’o? What are those?” Lucy asked. She had been listening in on their conversation and her interest was piqued. She had already known about Natsu and Igneel, but this was new.

“Kurama is my partner, who is a Nine Tailed Fox Demon,” Naruto replied, patting his stomach. “He also likes to sleep a lot.”

“A fox demon?” The blonde mused aloud, wanting to go further into it. She had heard some legends on things like that, but they were just that: legends.

Sasuke sighed. It was his turn to explain. While their status as shinobi wasn’t exactly a secret, it wasn’t broadcasted either. He wasn’t even sure if the current magical generations were aware of their shinobi predecessors. “The Susano’o is an ability of my  _ Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan _ . It’s a nearly impenetrable defense and a fairly good offense technique,” Sasuke answered. Naruto snorted. ‘Fairly good offense’ was just a  _ minor  _ understatement.

Lucy pondered their responses. The terms were stuff from old legends. Perhaps they were simply a fan of them and decided to name their magic after those legends. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had done that.

The carriage lurched to a halt and Natsu leapt to his feet in triumph. “I’m alive!” He shouted before proceeding to burst out the carriage doors, falling to the snowy ground with sounds of joy. Sasuke and Naruto stepped out after them, fairly unbothered by the cold. The sun hitting the snow was almost blinding though. A cold wind blew through the pass, making Lucy shiver in her short miniskirt and tank top.

“It’s so cold up here! You didn’t tell me we would be trekking through snow on a mountain!” She accused Natsu angrily, shivering in the cold.

Sasuke sighed and took off his cloak, draping it over her shoulders. “Here. I get why you’re angry, and it wouldn’t be good if you got hypothermia up here. I’m not sure what we’ll find, so I’d rather have everyone in as good of a condition as they can be.”

The group watched as an idea struck Lucy. “Open! Gate of the Clock Constellation: Horologium!” She cried out, summoning a spirit through a magic circle. The blonde locked herself inside a clock spirit, which amused the group. They walked on in relative silence, watching their breaths frost in the cold. The mountain was silent until a Vulcan jumped down in front of them, startling the group.

“What the hell is that thing?” Naruto exclaimed, looking at the yeti-like creature. He didn’t get an answer.

It caught sight of Lucy. “Woman? Woman!” It grunted, rushing past them and picking up Horologium with Lucy still in it.

“Lucy!” Natsu called out, startled by the action. “It took her!”

“Yes, we can see that,” Sasuke grimaced. There was a blizzard rolling in. “Natsu, you need to track her. There is a blizzard rolling in, and we need to find her and Macao before it hits,” he ordered, letting Natsu take the lead with his nose. The pair followed Natsu and Happy up the mountain, following the Vulcan’s trail.

When they arrived at the ice cave where the Vulcan was, the two were reminded of Kaguya’s ice world. Ice stalagmites and stalactites lined the roof and floor of the cave. It was slippery from the ice. Natsu was the poor soul who slipped, sliding along the slippery surface. Naruto snickered as he and Sasuke kept traction using their chakra.

“You good there, Natsu?” Naruto asked, watching him while laughing.

“Yep, just fine!” He said, getting back on his feet. “Alright you big ape, where’s Macao!” Natsu demanded. The Vulcan seemed to have a revelation and waved Natsu over to a hole in the cave wall, hooting excitedly. Natsu rushed over and stuck his head out the hole. “Macao! Are you out the-” He was cut off by his own scream as the Vulcan shoved him out the hole. A blue blur shot past them through the hole.

“Shit!” Sasuke cursed. He only hoped that Happy could get to Natsu in time before he fell to his death.  
“You killed Natsu!” Lucy accused, glaring menacingly at the Vulcan. “Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!” There was a bright golden light that brought a large bipedal bull into existence. The bull attacked the Vulcan, putting up a valiant fight. However, he was the next unfortunate soul to slip on the slippery cave floor, and the Vulcan got ahold of his weapon. Unfortunately that weapon was a giant axe, the shinobi duo were the next targets. The axe and Sasuke’s sword clashed in the cave, causing sparks to fly between the weapons.

“No man, only woman!” The Vulcan screeched, pressing the heavy weapon down on Sasuke’s. 

“Yeah, whatever,” he grunted, pushing back against the Vulcan. The Vulcan pushed back harder and in that moment, Sasuke sidestepped, letting his momentum carry him to the floor.

Natsu came back in a fury, lighting his fist on fire and charging at the Vulcan. He punched the creature into the wall, causing some cracks in the sides of the cave from the force behind it.

“Natsu? You’re alive? How?” Lucy asked dumbfoundedly.

He grinned toothily, “Happy saved me of course! Isn’t that right, lil’ buddy?”

“Aye, sir!” The cat chirped.

The Vulcan’s form glowed before shrinking down to the size of a human, causing the group to look over curiously. 

“Macao?” Natsu exclaimed, unsure of what to make of the situation. It was pretty bizarre, considering that the Vulcan they had defeated was Natsu’s guildmate and Romeo’s father. They laid him out on Natsu’s blanket and began to bandage up his wounds, taking as much care as possible to not cause any further damage. Then, they waited patiently for the man to wake up, which didn’t take very long. He came to with a groan, slightly confused.

“Welcome back, Macao!” Natsu cheered, happy to see his friend awake and relatively unharmed. “What happened to you?”

“I managed to take out all but one, and the last one managed to take over my body. I can’t thank you enough for coming to get me. Now I can go back home to Romeo,” he said with visible relief. “And who are you three? New to the guild I presume?” Macao asked, looking between Lucy, Naruto, and Sasuke.

“Yes, I’m Lucy! I’m not sure when Naruto and Sasuke joined though,” she replied.

“Well, It’s always nice to have new faces in the guild! I hope you like it, though it does get a little rambunctious,” Macao chuckled sheepishly.

“I think Naruto will fit in just fine then,” Sasuke snorted, earning a scandalized look from the loud blond. “The blizzard outside seems to have died down for now. Let’s head back before Mother Nature decides she doesn’t want us here anymore.” With that, the group packed up their things and began the trek back to town.

When they arrived back in Magnolia, the first thing they did was find Romeo. It didn’t take long thanks to Macao giving them a few tips. When the kid saw them, his face lit up like the sun. Romeo teared up and tackled his dad with enough force to knock the wind out of his father.

“Dad! You’re back!” Romeo cried, hugging his father tightly.

“That I am kiddo, that I am.” Macao hugged his son and began to take him home.

“Natsu! Happy! Lucy and Two Random Guys! Thanks for saving my dad!” He shouted.

Lucy laughed and waved at Romeo while Natsu and Happy smiled. Sasuke let out the smallest of smiles while Naruto decided to wave excitedly. It always felt good to help people, even if it wasn’t in the way you expected to.

The group returned to the guild where Naruto and Sasuke decided to sit at the bar and have a glass of water. Like always, the guild broke out in a fight. Sasuke sighed. It was just as rowdy in the current guild as it was when Mavis was guild master. It was a miracle the two of them didn’t croak before their time. Somehow the guildhall still stood. The only thing that changed was the people.

Sasuke sipped at his water, ignoring the small skirmishes taking place around the hall. “It's not much different from what it was all those years ago,” he mused. A few moments later, Lucy approached the duo.

“This is yours. Thank you for lending it to me on the mountain,” Lucy said, handing over Sasuke’s cloak.

“Ah, thank you,” he replied, taking his cloak and placing it on the table next to his drink. “This is a bit late, but welcome to Fairy Tail. There’s always a need for more common sense around here,” Sasuke snorted.

“I feel called out,” Naruto pouted, giving Sasuke an accusing look.

“You’re damn right you are. You have the common sense of a potato on crack,” he teased, bumping the blond with his elbow.

Naruto rolled his eyes good naturedly. “Alright bastard, let’s go home. We can take another mission tomorrow.”

Sasuke simply shrugged and got up. Missions were good distractions, especially the fun ones. The Uchiha slung his cloak around his shoulders, buttoning it at the neck. “C’mon, idiot. We can pick up food on the way home. I don’t feel like cooking tonight, and I’ll never trust you with anything more complicated than a toaster.”

“Then I’m gonna make the best meal ever!” Naruto grinned, taking it as a challenge.

“If you so much as touch the stove, the house will probably spontaneously combust,” Sasuke sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We took the job specifically to get enough money to build a house, seeing as we aren’t on Tenrou with Mavis anymore,” he pointed out.

Naruto pouted slightly. “Okay. Can we get ramen?” He asked, his eyes lighting up.

“…Fine. We can get ramen.” It was better than Naruto loose in the kitchen, so the Uchiha was willing to compromise.

On the way home, they stopped at a local ramen stand and ate. As usual, Naruto had several bowls, seeming to have a hollow leg to store the ramen in. Sasuke gracefully ate one, savoring the flavor. It wasn’t bad ramen, but he couldn’t understand why Naruto would want to eat it daily.

When they were done, Sasuke paid the bill. Since they took shared missions and lived together, there wasn’t much need to split their money between the two of them. He got up and stretched slightly, looking over at the blond. “What do you think of the new generation in the guild?”

“They seem like good kids. Makarov has done well with them. I forgot that Makarov was Mavis’ godson. Does that make us his great godparents?” Naruto mused, getting up from his seat.

“Technically yes, but within the guild hierarchy he outranks the two of us,” Sasuke pointed out. “He knows more about the current guild than we do. We’ve been sealed away for 105 years. We missed the entire reign of the second master. The two of us are outdated right now. We can do our best to help Makarov with the current guild, but it’s- it’s not Mavis’ guild anymore.” Sasuke’s breath caught slightly. That reality hurt. He remembered as clear as day when he saw Zeref carrying her body. That image was seared into his memories. After a short time they were sealed away, per her last wishes. They never saw the second master named.

Naruto understood. He had been there that day. It was one of the few times in his life when he had seen the hardened Uchiha cry. “I miss her too. Every time I see the guild, it's a bittersweet reminder of what she lived and died for. I think that’s why she entrusted us to be there when it grew up.”

A small smile crossed Sasuke’s face. “Look at you, finally saying something insightful. But… I think you’re right. Before we came across Mavis and Tenrou, we were just wandering the world aimlessly. We didn’t have a goal. We stayed out of the magical wars because they weren’t our fights. After the shinobi died out, we were practically forgotten. We’re the only remnants of our time. I suppose some would consider us lucky to have seen the world grow, but it feels like the world just goes on by while we just stand still,” the Uchiha mused.

“I guess the thing to ask is where we fit in here, you know?” The blond sighed, turning and looking in the direction of the guild hall.

Sasuke followed his gaze. “We’ll figure it out. We’re here now and I don’t think we’ll be going away anytime soon, so we have to do what we can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll do my best to post the third chapter next week Friday. I'll see you then!


	4. Everlue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit longer at 6k words. It was fun to write though. The lines are scene breaks and/or small time skips. I don't have much to say, so enjoy!

Naruto and Sasuke woke up early to go to the guild. It would be nice to get there before the ruckus started for once. There was no need to rush though.

“What mission should we take?” Sasuke asked, curious to hear Naruto’s thoughts on the matter.

“I’m not sure. We’ll see what the S-Class request board has,” he shrugged unconcernedly.

When they made their way to the guild, it was fairly quiet. People hadn’t started the daily commotion… yet. The duo made their way up the stairs to the second floor of the guild hall, only to come across one of the few S-Class wizards in the guild. He was tall and blond with a lightning scar cutting down his right eye.

“Who the hell are you two?” He accused, clearly disliking the fact that they were on the second floor.

“That would be none of your business,” Sasuke replied, nonchalantly walking by to get to the request board.

“Hey, I asked you a question!” He snarled, gripping Sasuke by the shoulder and spinning him around.

Sasuke followed the momentum and turned around to face him. “And I gave you an answer,” he spoke slowly, letting chakra flow into his eye and turn it into the blood red of his Sharingan. The blond man let go of him at the sight of the eye. It gave him the chills. In the next moment, it was gone and Sasuke turned away, taking Naruto to the request board with him.

“Did you really need to scare the poor guy?” Naruto asked, still snickering slightly. It was hilarious to see the nameless blond’s face.

“You can’t tell me that you wouldn’t have done the same with Kurama if given the chance,” the Uchiha pointed out, turning his attention away from the board to pointedly raise and eyebrow at him.

“Ok you’re right, I probably would have,” Naruto conceded with a shrug, not particularly caring. They were interrupted by Makarov coming up the stairs towards them.

“Natsu, Lucy and Happy are taking a mission that requires a bit of stealth. I want you two to go with them to try and keep Natsu in check so he doesn’t… fuck up the surrounding property,” the older man coughed, slightly embarrassed by how destructive his guild was.

“So you want us to babysit them?” Naruto asked dubiously.

“Essentially, yes. Do your best to keep them out of trouble if you can,” Makarov clarified

“We can do that, Master,” the Uchiha replied, sighing internally. Was it too much to ask for a challenge every now and then? He could fight Naruto, but he wasn’t hankering to do that again after the aftermath of the last fight they’d had.

“They’re downstairs now. I’ve already informed them that you two will be accompanying them. Thank you, you two,” the old man said before heading down the stairs.

“Alright, let’s go asshole!” Naruto grinned, excited to go on another adventure with Natsu and Lucy again. The blond jumped over the railing to land onto the first floor. Sasuke, being boring, took the stairs. Maybe it would do the guild some good to have more level headed people.

The Uchiha walked up the blonde one, named Lucy. “What mission is it?” He asked, needing to know what would be going on.

“It’s the one for Everlue’s mansion. The client wants us to sneak in and destroy a book. The pay is good too,” she chirped, handing him the paper to look at. Sasuke plucked the paper out of her hands. The mission seemed easy enough.

“Very well. Let us go then,” Sasuke ordered. 

They walked in silence to the train station, though Naruto and Sasuke did engage in quiet conversation. The train ride wasn’t too long. Poor Natsu was sick the whole time, hanging his head out the window like a dog. Even the cold Uchiha felt a measure of pity for his situation.

Thankfully the group arrived a few hours later. Natsu was positively starving, as was Naruto. Sasuke was slightly hungry, so he wouldn’t turn down a meal, especially with the upcoming mission. The three of them plus Happy went to a restaurant to get a bit of food while Lucy went off to fulfill some requirements of the quest. They sat down and ordered, waiting for Lucy to return. When she did, she was dressed in a skimpy maid costume. Naruto snickered while Sasuke just sighed.

“We were joking about the maid costume, but she took it seriously! What do we do?” Natsu whispered loudly.

“I don’t know, I wasn’t expecting her to take it seriously!” Happy whispered back.

“I can hear you!” Lucy growled irately.

“For your sake, I hope you don’t have to do the mission in that,” the Uchiha commented. Whoever ‘Everlue’ was, he was a creep. With the costume out of the way, the group finished up eating and paid before heading to the Melon Estate to get the details of their mission.

The estate was quite nice, but Sasuke could tell that Natsu was slightly suspicious of something. Dragonslayers were said to have a heightened sense of smell.

“Welcome to our home, I am Kaby Melon,” he said, sitting on the sofa across from the team.

“Oh man, you have a tasty name,” Natsu drooled, mainly speaking to himself.

“Hey, show some respect!” Lucy scolded. Sasuke nodded in agreement. Someone had all their screws in, unlike the rest of the group.

“It’s alright, I get that a lot,” Kaby chuckled, “but allow me to explain the job. For starters, the reward has been increased to two million.”

Their jaws dropped slightly. “Two million?!” Lucy, Natsu, Happy, and Naruto exclaimed. Sasuke simply raised his eyebrows in surprise. Two million was a hefty amount of money for a single book.

“Yes. I raised the reward because it is that important to me. Duke Everlue is in possession of a book called Daybreak. I want you to burn it to ash,” Kaby explained. Natsu seemed excited at that prospect. Burning things was his forte, after all.

“Very well. Should we meet you back here after the mission is complete?” Sasuke asked, trying to keep some semblance of order.

“Yes, and do be careful. Everlue is a dangerous man,” Kaby warned, his voice dropping slightly. Sasuke simply nodded before leading the group out of the estate.

They arrived at the Everlue Mansion. It was tall but fairly narrow and surrounded by a concrete fence. It wasn’t very ornate on the outside, but looks could be deceiving.

Lucy walked up to the gate while the rest of the group hid in the trees. Sasuke watched her closely. He couldn’t hear the conversation from the distance they were at, but he could see Lucy’s facial expressions. It didn’t seem to be going well. All the sudden, some very… interesting… maids appeared next to who he assumed was Everlue and the maid who had greeted Lucy. True her expressions during the conversation, when she came back, Lucy was fuming.

“Ugly! He and his maids had the gall to call me ugly!” Lucy burst out, clearly offended by the insults they had thrown her way.

“Well, sounds like it’s time for Plan T,” Natsu grinned ferally, punching his fist into his palm.

“What’s Plan T?” Lucy asked. Naruto and Sasuke also had the same questioning look. Knowing Natsu, it wouldn’t be anything too smart.

“Take ‘em by storm!” The fire breather smirked, clearly satisfied and excited about his plan of action.

They did not storm the mansion. Somehow, even Naruto was on board with not barging in there like maniacs. Instead, they made their way to one of the balcony windows. Natsu melted the glass of the window and opened it from the inside, grumbling the whole time.

“This isn’t taking them by storm, you know,” He grumbled.

“Well, I’m not going to jail because of you,” Lucy huffed.

“We’ll probably find a fight inside anyways,” Naruto grinned. He and Sasuke hadn’t seen a good fight in awhile.

“We’re going to try and avoid fighting, idiot,” Sasuke deadpanned, reminding Naruto that they were there for a book, not a fight.

With that, they all crept into the mansion, entering some sort of storage room. It was cluttered and dusty with several items that just seemed like junk. Why someone would need so much stuff, they didn’t know. Happy got his little paws on a skull and scared Lucy. Naruto and Natsu laughed at her misfortune while Sasuke simply smiled.

“Alright, let’s find that book!” Naruto exclaimed quietly as they made their way out of the frankly over cluttered room.

“I don’t see why we didn’t just bust down the front door,” Natsu grumbled, crossing his arms petulantly.

“The point is to be quiet, like a ninja,” Lucy hissed, slightly irritated with his antics.

“Like a ninja…,” The salmon haired teen fantasized before wrapping his dragon scale-like scarf around his mouth and head to form a ninja hood.

Naruto snickered at the mention of ninjas. Little did the dragonslayer know, ninjas did exist, many millennia ago. Naruto looked over at Sasuke, gauging his expression. They were the last ninjas. While it was reassuring to have Sasuke, someone very dear to him, it was hard to feel out of place in a world he barely knew anymore.

Naruto peeked over Sasuke’s shoulder as he opened a door, revealing a golden bathroom. “That’s very extra,” he commented, almost slightly impressed.

“It’s… loud,” Sasuke groused, clearly not a fan of the blinged out bathroom. They left the glamorous bathroom in peace, turning back to the long and open hallways of the mansion. To their dismay, the burly maid from before, the one who had greeted Lucy, emerged from the ground while the rest converged around her.

“Intruder alert, Virgo!” They chorused, only to be scared off by Happy and his skull. Why he still had it, they didn’t know.

“Happy, put the skull back,” Lucy reprimanded gently, prying it off his head. The blue cat compiled and put the skull aside so they could continue on.

With the decidedly horrifying encounter behind them, the group made their way to the library and began looking. “Sasukeeee, this is gonna take forever,” Naruto complained. All the books were an eyesore. Reading wasn’t something he enjoyed.

“I know it will, so start looking,” Sasuke ordered, activating his Sharingan. Just like that, several more Narutos poofed into existence. The clones also began their search for the book in the elaborate library. Natsu looked around in awe at the several clones of Naruto, slightly baffled. Naruto used clone magic? That was new.

Natu began roaming around the library, looking for the book. He picked up a yellow one with a picture of the sun on the front. “Hey look! This one’s shiny!” The dragonslayer exclaimed, holding his interesting prize up for the room to see.

Sasuke’s sharp eye caught sight of it. “That’s the book, Natsu,” he informed. It looked like a regular book, so why was it so important to the Melons?

Suddenly, Lucy snatched the book from Natsu’s hands.“I didn’t know that this was written by Kemu Zaleon!” She exclaimed.

“Who?” Natsu deadpanned.

“Kemu Zaleon was an amazing author and wizard. I thought I had read every sentence he’d ever written, but this must be an unpublished novel!” Lucy gushed, staring at it with loving eyes.

“Who cares? Let me just burn it already,” Natsu grinned, lighting his hand on fire.

“No! Not yet,” the blonde hissed, holding it to her chest.

“Lucy, it’s the mission,” Sasuke pointed calmly out before he and Naruto whipped their heads around, sensing someone else entering the library. It was Everlue.

“So you’ve come to pillage the Daybreak book from me, and for what? It’s a stupid book, not worthy of the attention of a guild,” he huffed snootily, looking down at them from his short stature. He clearly wasn’t happy with their intrusion.

“If it’s so stupid, then it must be okay for me to have it,” The blonde smirked, hugging the book to her chest possessivly.

“It’s mine so get your grubby hands off of it, ugly!” Everlue fumed.

Lucy whined and plopped down on the floor. “Well, at least let me read it first!”

“Read it, now?!” Natsu, Happy, Naruto, and Everlue exclaimed. Sasuke just sighed in defeat. He couldn’t really blame her for wanting to read it if it was truly the only copy. 

“Enough of this foolishness! Come forth, Vanish Brothers!” Everlue exclaimed with a sardonic grin on his face. The book cases moved apart and revealed two men, one of which had hair in the shape of a shuriken and the other holding a large frying pan. Sasuke and Naruto gave them confused looks. There’s a lot better options for weapons than a giant frying pan, so why a frying pan?

“Natsu, take care of things here. I think this book holds some kind of secret,” Lucy requested before dashing away. She had spotted something in the book, and she needed to get somewhere where she could look at it in more depth.

“I’m going after the girl. Deal with this one. The other two are nuisances as well,” he snarled, irritated that she got away. A magic circle appeared under his feet as he sunk into the ground, chasing after Lucy and the book.

“Happy, help Lucy,” Natsu spoke.

“You sure that you’ll be okay here?” The cat asked, concerned.

“Yeah, I’ll be just fine,” He smirked.

Naruto turned to Sasuke. “Sasuke, help Lucy. I’ll help Natsu.”

Sasuke nodded. “Alright, idiot. Take care of things here.” The Uchiha disappeared in a blur of movement. Natsu gaped, along with the Vanish Brothers. What the hell was that speed? That wasn’t human.

Naruto turned to them and cracked his knuckles, satisfied with his decision. “Alright, who’s ready to take some punishment?”

________________________________

Sasuke found Lucy and Happy, the former of whom was reading Daybreak with a pair of magic glasses. He sat down on the ground and leaned against the wall, keeping an eye out for Everlue. He couldn’t hear or feel the rumbling of his magic, so they were temporarily in the clear.

“So what did you find in it?” Sasuke asked, watching her flip through the pages rapidly.

She handed it to him with a look of disgust on her face. “Read it,” Lucy snarled, angry at the contents. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and began to read through the book as quickly as possible, and a look of repulsion crossed his face.

________________________________

The Vanish Brothers kicked Natsu through the door of the library, ignoring the blond ninja. That would be their mistake.

“You know what a wizard’s greatest weakness is? Their bodies!” The brothers sprang into action, and Naruto and Natsu countered. Naruto grinned, excited at the prospect of a good fight. The brothers pulled back, and Naruto stood back to back with Natsu. They wouldn’t have the same synergy as he and Sasuke would have, but he could make do.

Natsu decided to go straight for the attack. “Fire Dragon: Roar!” He shouted, letting loose a vortex of fire from his mouth. To his and Naruto’s surprise, the shorter brother absorbed the fire from the spell into the large pan.

“It’s quite convenient that you’re a fire mage, because we specialize in fighting fire mages!” The two of them grinned as the older flipped the pan around, magnifying and releasing Natsu’s fire right back at the two. Naruto activated his cloak a few milliseconds before it hit, covering both himself and Natsu with golden chakra. To his surprise, Natsu had begun to eat the flames from the pan. He’d forgotten that the salmon haired teen was a dragonslayer.

The moment the flames died down, Naruto deactivated the protective cloak. Natsu sighed in satisfaction, happy with his unexpected meal. Naruto formed his signature Rasengan in his palm while Natsu fired up his fists, and they leapt in together. Naruto targeted the one with the pan, while Natsu targeted the other. The fight was over less than a minute later. Both the brothers were unconscious on the ground while the victors stood over them.

“Alright, how about we go check on Sasuke and Lucy,” the blond suggested. The fight wasn’t long or exciting, but he was ok with that.

“Sure! Also, what was that blue swirly thing you made?” Natsu asked, curious about the strange magic.

“Oh, that’s my Rasengan. It's just chak-magic molded into a spinning sphere,” Naruto shrugged. Chakra didn’t exist anymore.

________________________________

Sasuke read the story. It was disgusting, glorifying Duke Everlue as some sort of saint. Just based on how lackluster the words seemed to be, it was clear that the author felt no love or passion for the story. It was almost sad in a way. However, the book felt odd, like there was magic coating it. His Sharingan could only see a faint shimmer, not really accustomed to seeing magic.

“You knew that there was a spell on it, didn’t you?” Sasuke inferred, impressed by her intelligence. “That’s why you took it.”

“Yeah,” Lucy laughed nervously, embarrassed that he’d figured it out. “That, and I also did genuinely want to read it.” Sasuke handed the book back to her, entrusting her with the object.

Sasuke’s head snapped up. He had been so caught up in the book and their conversation that he had just barely sensed the vibration of the walls. He pulled Lucy away from the wall. His Sharingan activated on reflex as he searched for Everlue. Fortunately, no searching would be needed. Everlue popped out of the wall across from them. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and put his lone hand on the hilt of his sword.

“Give me the book and no one gets hurt,” Everlue smirked as his magic flared. Sasuke didn’t respond, standing in a fairly relaxed position with his sword at his side. He _really_ wanted Everlue to try him.

“Lucy, figure out what secret that book holds,” Sasuke ordered, using his words to bait Everlue into a fight. He was greedy. If he thought it held something valuable, he would be baited into a fight. He and Lucy already knew what the book held.

Everlue made the first move, using his magic to dive into the ground to try and catch Sasuke and Lucy off guard. Sasuke wasn’t about to let that happen, but he couldn't use the majority of his abilities in the enclosed space. Everlue popped out of the ground, coming at him with surprising speed. However, he was far outclassed by the old ninja. Everlue had the drawback of many mages: he relied on his magic too much to fight for him. Sasuke had no such limitations. So, he rendered him nearly incapacitated.

Everlue began to laugh from his place on the ground before pulling out a golden key from his pocket. Sasuke’s visible eye widened. How the hell did the slimy man get his hands on a zodiac key, much less make a contract. Any self respecting spirit would likely turn him down if they knew his true colors.

“Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!” He called out, opening the celestial gate and summoning forth the pink haired maid from earlier, the one who had greeted Lucy at the gate. However, it seemed that she had brought along a few visitors, namely in the form of Natsu and Naruto.

“Natsu and Naruto? What the hell are you doing here?” Lucy asked, confused as to how they could’ve come through the celestial realm. “How the hell did you get through? No human can pass through the celestial spirit world!”

“We just kinda grabbed on when we saw her leave!” Natsu blurted out, leaping away from the giant maid.

Happy plodded up next to them after staying out of the whole confrontation. “Natsu, you’re okay!” He cheered, hugging the dragonslayer’s leg.

“Summoning people through the gate is a serious breach of contract,” Lucy accused. It was strictly forbidden for humans to enter the celestial spirit realm, even by accident. With that, Virgo poofed away and Everlue dropped his key, the contract broken. Sasuke simply whacked Everlue over the back of the head with the butt of his sword before sheathing it. Unbeknownst to the rest of them, the small blue cat toddled up to the golden key and slipped it in his small rucksack. He was a smart little fellow.

“Let’s get out of here,” Naruto grinned, putting his arms behind his head. With the book in tow, the group made their way back to the entrance of the mansion, not even bothering to be sneaky. It didn’t matter what happened next. They got the book, and that’s all they cared about.

________________________________

  
  


The group simply took their time going back to the Melon Estate. There wasn’t much to do since they had the book and they were sure no one would follow them.

“Sasuke, do you know what’s in the book?” Naruto asked, suspecting something was up. Sasuke was one to stick with the mission, so it was abnormal for him to not burn the book.

“What’s in the book is for Kaby Melon to see,” he said cryptically.

“Sasukeeeee,” the blond whined, but the Uchiha didn’t budge.

When they arrived, Lucy handed the book to Kaby, who looked at it in disgust.

“Why did you bring this here? I never wanted to see this book again,” he spoke sadly, his hands trembling as he held the book.

“We figured that you should have the right to burn it so you can have some closure,” Lucy replied.

“And burn it I will.” Kaby struck a match. It flickered slightly before being blown out by an unseen wind. A moment later, the book shone brightly, the text wrapping around the book and rearranging itself before their eyes.

“Your father didn’t stop writing because he was ashamed of what he wrote. He stopped writing because he had written his final masterpiece. Something he had written for his son. It’s his final letter to you, a book disguised as something horrid,” Lucy smiled, watching the book settle down. On the front, ‘Daybreak’ had rearranged to form ‘Dear Kaby’. The book landed back in Kaby’s hands, and he hugged it reverently to his chest

“Thank you, Fairy Tail. This means more than you could know to me,” he responded gratefully, slightly choked up.

“Well now that that’s over, I think it’s time we all go home. That means you too, Mr. Melon,” Natsu grinned.

“Well, let me give you the reward at least!” He exclaimed.

“Nah. We didn’t complete the mission. You wanted us to burn the book, but we never did,” Naruto pointed out. 

“…Very well,” Kaby sighed, getting up from the couch. “Thank you again, and have a safe journey home.”

________________________________

They did not have a safe journey home. Happy thought it would be a good idea to try and use his nose to guide them home. Naruto and Sasuke hopped amongst the trees above the stagnant and dirty water while Natsu and Lucy crammed into Horologium.

“Why did we let Happy lead us again,” Naruto whispered to Sasuke, looking around at the endless swamp.

“Because Natsu forgot that Happy is a cat and not a dog,” Sasuke grumbled, disliking the situation. “Let’s just find our way to dry land for now so we can stop and have a break.”

They continued to travel in a straight line for the next few hours and eventually the swamp ended, leading out to a main dirt trail surrounded by trees. Sasuke and Naruto landed on the ground on the packed dirt, happy to have something under the soles of their feet that wasn’t tree branches. Horologium poofed away back to the spirit realm since they were on dry land.

Night was falling at that point. Sasuke looked at the sky and guessed it to be about eight or nine before turning to the group. “We should stop for the night. It’s generally not a good idea to travel at night in an unknown place. Natsu and Lucy, go find sticks for a fire. Naruto and I will find food,” the Uchiha ordered, well versed with living off the land.

The two ninja set off to hunt, which didn’t take long. They had found a swift and clear river teeming with fish. The two of them took turns spearing the fish with kunai by the head to the rocks and dirt below. In less than an hour, they had a fish for everyone, including Happy. With their future meal in hand, the shinobi duo swiftly made their way back to camp.

“Fiiiiish,” Happy drooled, looking at them reverently while holding out his little paws for one.

“Not yet,” Sasuke said sternly, taking them over to a flat rock and pulling out a kunai to scale the dead fish. He gave the first descaled fish to Happy, who was drooling at the sight and smell.

“Tank yu!” Happy said, his mouth full of fish.

“Don’t speak with your mouth full,” the Uchiha automatically reprimanded, descaling the rest of the fish with practiced efficiency.

Surprisingly, Happy swallowed before speaking again. “Okie,” the cat responded before taking another bite. The Uchiha smiled slightly, pausing his work to pet the blue cat on the head.

“Go tell Natsu to start a fire with the sticks he gathered,” he ordered, gently pushing Happy in the direction of the camp. The little blue cat nodded, still happily munching away on his fish.

Sasuke sighed and cleaned off the knife with care before putting it back away in his hip pouch. He grabbed the tails of the fish in his one hand and followed the little cat back to their small camp, already hearing the crackling of a healthy fire.

He picked up some of the extra sticks and speared the fish on them to prepare them for the fire. They would cook quickly, so he needed to keep an eye on them. Sasuke jammed the sticks into the ground around the fire before sitting next to Naruto to watch them cook.

“I saw you pet Happy earlier,” Naruto teased, poking the Uchiha in the ribs gently.

Sasuke huffed and swatted his hand away. “I think you need your eyes checked,” he groused, taking off his cloak and laying it on the ground. Naruto snickered but dropped the subject. Sasuke was likely a bit tired from the travelling and hunting, so it was best that he didn’t push Sasuke too far and actually piss him off.

After a few minutes, Sasuke got up and turned the fish to cook the other side. Natsu sat on the other side of the fire, drooling at the smell of cooking fish. It didn’t take long for the fish to cook, but with hungry bellies all around, it felt like ages.

Sasuke tested the fish by pushing a clean kunai in the center and twisting it. The fish began to flake away delicately, signalling that it was done cooking. He plucked up the cooked fish and handed them out on the sticks, using the same method every time to make sure that they were done.

“Thank you, Sasuke,” Lucy said before biting into her cooked fish. It seemed like someone had manners. The same could not be said for Natsu and Naruto, who tore into their food with the ferocity of rabid dogs. Sasuke ate his own fish fairly slowly, preferring to take his time and savor the food rather than inhale it.

When they were finished, they tossed their sticks and the bones in the fire to keep it burning. Natsu added some flames to it to keep it burning throughout the night. Sasuke sighed and laid down on top of his cloak, tucking his lone arm beneath his head as a makeshift pillow. Naruto laid down beside Sasuke with his back to him. They slept back to back for the night, protecting each other to the best of their abilities.

________________________________

Sasuke woke up at dawn while the rest were still asleep. He needed to get breakfast for them. He yawned quietly, running his hand through his hair before draping his cloak over his shoulders. Sasuke pinched his hair between his fingers with a grimace. He really needed a shower. The Uchiha sighed before walking into the trees, hunting for rabbits instead of fish. It would take a bit longer, but Sasuke was okay with that. After a little over an hour, the sun had risen fully and Sasuke had gotten his hands on two rabbits and a fish. The latter was for Happy, whom the Uchiha had taken a liking to.

The Uchiha returned to camp and skinned the rabbits for the group and descaled the fish for Happy. Like the night before, he put the carcasses on sticks so they could cook by the fire. Only this time, the fire wasn’t lit.

“Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu,” Sasuke uttered quietly, only letting out a small ball of fire to set the sticks alight. There was a rustling behind him as Naruto stirred, woken up by Sasuke utilizing his chakra.

“Sasuke, ‘re you okay?” The blond slurred sleepily.

“I’m fine, Naruto. Just go back to sleep. I’m just relighting the fire for breakfast,” Sasuke responded, sighing quietly while shaking his head. The idiot wouldn’t wake up for anything less than an earthquake in most circumstances, but the moment he felt Sasuke’s chakra shift, he was awake. Naruto simply nodded sleepily and went back to sleep.

Sasuke roasted the rabbits he had found, setting the fish aside for Happy. Surprisingly, the small cat was the next to wake up. Perhaps it was the smell of fish. The small blue cat yawned and was soon after handed the fish, which he happily took and began munching on. To Sasuke’s surprise, Happy climbed into his lap between his criss crossed legs and continued to eat there while he continued to cook the rabbit. Lucy was the next to wake up, yawning as the sun crossed into her eyes. The other two followed in rapid succession, spurred on by the smell of cooking food.

“Huh? Where’d the fire come from?” Lucy asked, figuring it had died out around the early morning.

“I relit it,” Sasuke shrugged, pulling the cooked rabbits from the fire and handing them around to his groggy companions. Happy was perking up, happily munching away on the last of his fish. Sasuke took his own piece of rabbit and began to eat, offering a small piece to Happy, who took it. Naruto held back a laugh at that. The once vengeful Uchiha was going soft.

“Tanks, Saske,” Natsu said with a full mouth, prompting him to sigh.

“Natsu, don’t speak with your mouth full,” he ordered, much like he had told Happy yesterday. They didn’t have much manners, though he supposed it couldn’t really be helped since they were in the middle of a forest eating with their hands and off sticks.

Like the night before, Natsu and Naruto finished their food quickly while Sasuke and Lucy took more time. When they were finished, Naruto kicked dirt over the fire to effectively put it out. They weren’t being followed, so there was no need to cover their tracks. All they needed to do was make sure that it was out so that it didn’t set the surrounding area on fire.

While he was putting out the fire, Naruto could sense someone else around them but their magic was familiar. He had sensed them in the guild before, so the blond wasn’t really concerned about their presence. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Natsu. The hotheaded dragon slayer leapt into the bushes with the ferocity of a hunting dog on the prowl. Whoever was in there ensued a squabble with Natsu before they both rolled out, still fighting. After a few seconds, Natsu recognised who he had gone after.

“Gray? What are you doing here?” Natsu squaked.

“I was here to take a leak, but I got interrupted by an idiot,” He hissed irately at Natsu. Natsu growled and butted heads with the other teen, not taking the insult too kindly. Sasuke sighed and stepped in, pulling Natsu off Gray.

“Enough,” he ordered sternly, watching the two of them with a critical eye. With a further fight avoided, they began to converse normally.

“I heard Erza is due back in town,” Gray commented, miraculously putting his clothes back on.

“Oh crap, we gotta get back!” Natsu yelped. He didn’t want to face Erza when going into town.

“Who’s Erza?” Lucy asked curiously. Naruto and Sasuke looked over, also curious as to who ‘Erza’ was.

“A monster,” Natsu shuddered.

“A demon!” Gray shivered. They both went pale at the thought of ‘Erza’, seemingly agreeing on something for once.

“She’s strong enough to kick down a mountain,” Happy chirped merrily. Lucy paled after that, gulping at the thought. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other curiously. ‘Erza’ was likely a powerful wizard, and immediately Naruto was eager to meet whoever it was.

Naruto’s head snapped up as he sensed a surge of magic. Less than a second later, they were buried in sand. He saw Sasuke’s face before they went under, and boy did he look pissed. Sasuke and Naruto unburied and shook themselves off, immediately noticing that Happy was missing.

“They’re going to eat Happy,” Sasuke noted, looking down at the group with thinly veiled disdain.

“Hey, that’s our friend you’re trying to cook down there!” Natsu shouted angrily. Sasuke skipped the theatrics and leapt right in, followed by Natsu. Unfortunately the two of them got caught in a sphere of sand.

“Natsu, Sasuke!” Lucy shouted worriedly. How in the hell would they get out of that?

“Don’t worry about them,” Naruto grinned. Even if Natsu somehow couldn’t get out, he knew damn well that Sasuke could. And Sasuke was irritated. Those mages fucked with the wrong ninja.

Inside the sphere, Natsu covered his mouth with his scarf. He looked over at Sasuke, and he looked thoroughly irritated. To his shock, Sasuke’s pitch black iris shifted to form a red six pronged petal with a black three pronged petal in the middle. Purple energy surrounded them both, forming what looked like a ribcage. It broke the sand sphere with ease and evaporated into thin air. Naruto smirked at the sight of Sasuke’s Susano’o. He was getting irritated, whether he realized it or not. The Uchiha lunged forward in a blur, drawing his sword and cutting Happy down from the stick he was tied to before handing the cat off to Natsu. Or at least he tried to.

“Thank you Sasukeeeeee!” Happy cheered, clinging to the Uchiha’s vest. “You saved me from being eaten!”

“You’re welcome,” Sasuke grumbled, patting the blue cat’s head gently. Naruto laughed slightly at his reaction. Happy really was growing on Sasuke.

Gray and Natsu dealt with the rest of the mages while Happy clung to the Uchiha, and Naruto tied them up tightly to a tree after the two had defeated them.

“Why are you here?” Naruto questioned, sensing something off about the group. They were silent for a few seconds until one piped up.

“We’re running… Eisenwald… Lullaby,” he croaked. However, before he could say anymore, a large shadowed hand enveloped the tree and sunk it into the ground.

“What the hell?” Gray exclaimed, looking at where they once were. There was no doubt that they were dead under there.

“Naruto… You know what Lullaby is,” Sasuke muttered lowly. The blond nodded mutely with his jaw clenched tightly. They knew exactly what Lullaby was, and if it was being used, it would be bad news.

Lucy Looked at their grim faces and her stomach sank. Something was wrong, and they knew who or what it was.

________________________________

  
  


Meanwhile in Magnolia, a woman in gleaming armor and fiery red hair strolled through the town with a large decorated monster horn as the citizens watched on in awe.


	5. Eisenwald's Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a small warning, this chapter has angst. It's also 5.5k words, so it's long. Like always, enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late post. I had things to do and this went on the backburner for the day.

When the group returned to Magnolia, they split up. Naruto and Sasuke went home because Sasuke demanded a shower, like the stuck up princess he was. He disliked being covered in sand and being dirty, so he and Naruto made a stop by their house to clean up before heading back to the guild. It also helped him sort and organize his thoughts.

Sasuke assumed that ‘Eisenwald’ was a guild. He already knew what ‘Lullaby’ was. It was one of Zeref’s demons from the Book of Zeref. The Uchiha gritted his teeth at the thought of the dark wizard. He could still vividly remember the day where he had seen Zeref carry their adoptive daughter’s body towards them. That memory still filled him with raw anguish. He might have cried, but he couldn’t really remember. The day was fuzzy and muddled, like his brain couldn’t bear to remember it. Their daughter was dead, her life snuffed out by Zeref and his curse. It had felt like he had fallen on his sword, gut wrenching and painful. The thought still took his breath away. He knew Naruto felt the same way. It was one of the few times where he had seen the happy-go-lucky blond cry.

Steeling himself, Sasuke stepped out of the shower. He hadn’t even realized that he'd started to cry until he saw his reddened eyes in the mirror. Sasuke drew in a shaky breath. He and Naruto needed to head back to the guild, so he had to get a handle on himself and his subsequent emotions. It was no secret that the Uchiha loved deeply, and his love for Mavis was no exception. He ran his hand through his hair before picking up a brush to brush it out while it was still wet and pliable. He couldn’t hear Naruto’s shower running, so he assumed that the blond was done and waiting so they could go to the guild.

Sasuke stepped out and into his room, picking out an identical outfit to what he was wearing previously, albeit with less sand and grime. The wonders of seals and how well they could store clothes and other items, especially since he and Naruto were in stasis for so long. He lethargically put on his clothes, the grim thoughts from the shower still weighing heavily on his mind.

The first thing Naruto noticed when Sasuke entered the common room was the pain in his visible eye. His back was ramrod straight as if he were keeping composure for the sake of going to the guild. The blonde swiftly got up from his seat, looking over his fellow semi immortal companion.

“Shit Sasuke, are you okay?” He asked with concern.

“Just… some bad memories,” the Uchiha muttered, wanting to drop the subject as soon as possible.

Naruto didn’t respond, only looking at him with that rare critical eye. The only thing he knew of that made Sasuke so tense was Mavis’ death. Then it hit him. Lullaby was a demon of the Book of Zeref, the same man who had caused her death. It was a sore subject for the both of them, but Sasuke had formed a special bond with the little orphan girl they had taken in on Tenrou. He had taught that girl how to create incredible illusions, something he had never gotten the chance to do with his actual daughter. Even with his late wife and biological daughter, the stoic Uchiha had never formed quite such a bond. Never in his life had he seen Sasuke smile more than when they raised Mavis. When they had returned to the guild on that fateful day, he had heard a sound that had shaken him to his core. The ever so stoic had Uchiha shattered that day, wailing in tortured agony over their dead child. Naruto could still remember that sound, and the memory of it still made him shudder. Sasuke had been practically inconsolable that day. Something inside of them had broken that day, and they followed Mavis’ last wishes by sealing themselves in the guild.

“Well, let’s head to the guild,” Naruto grinned, throwing his arm around Sasuke’s shoulders. As Naruto suspected, Sasuke gave him a dirty look but didn’t bother to remove his arm. It was a clear neon sign that the Uchiha wasn’t feeling okay.

“Alright, idiot,” he rolled his eyes, letting a small smile slip across his face. Naruto’s presence helped dull the worst of the memories, no matter how much he would never admit it to the blond.

_________________________________

The ninja duo made their way to the guild after their small detour. It didn’t take long to get there by leaping on the rooftops. At some point, it turned into a race. Naruto entered his chakra mode while lightning sparked along Sasuke’s body, causing them to be neck and neck. Naruto laughed loudly, enjoying the friendly race. Sasuke actually smiled before getting a devious idea. His Rinnegan hummed with power as he searched for a target to swap with. He ended up locking onto a small pebble and in the next second, Sasuke vanished.

Naruto growled as he caught up less than a second later. “Bastard, using your Rinnegan is cheating!”

“Is it? You used your chakra cloak,” Sasuke pointed out with a smirk.

“You know damn well it is!” He huffed, crossing his arms petulantly before dragging Sasuke into the guild.

“I think you’re just being a sore loser,” the Uchiha snickered, letting the blond drag him into the guild and up to the bar.

“Mira, can the bastard cheater and I have some water?” Naruto asked, plopping down on one of the bar stools. Sasuke sat down next to him, resting his arm on the counter.

“Of course! You know, you two don't act too unlike Natsu and Gray,” she smiled, taking note of their interaction that had transpired earlier.

Naruto paled and turned to Sasuke. “Are we really like that?” He asked, and Sasuke ducked his head in embarrassment before nodding slightly. Even the prideful Uchiha couldn’t deny it. They had an… interesting… relationship to put it in the least.

Sasuke and Naruto looked up as the guild doors slammed open, startling them slightly as Mira put their waters down in front of them. There was an orange haired man standing in the doorway with a terrified look on his face.

“Erza’s on her way here!” He shouted between his hard breaths. At that moment, Naruto and Sasuke watched the guild erupt into utter chaos. Apparently Natsu and Gray weren’t the only ones scared of ‘Erza’. They simply shrugged to each other and went back to sipping their waters in silence as the guild descended further into chaos. It was almost amusing to watch. They would enjoy watching it play out.

The moment the doors opened again, it was as if time had halted. Everyone froze in place, petrified by what was coming through the doors. Not even a second later, a woman with fiery red hair strode menacingly into the guild. She was carrying a large decorated horn above her head with a single hand, showing off her immense strength.

“Narsu, Gray, I see that you’re getting along well,” she commented. The aforementioned duo had their arms slung over each other's shoulders with terse grins.

“Yep, good pals like we always are!” Gray squeaked with a tight grin while Natsu nodded along enthusiastically.

“Well, that was a quick change,” Naruto whispered to Sasuke quietly.

“It’s because Erza has beaten them both, so they’re scared of her and follow what she says,” Mirajane giggled, leaning her hip on the bar counter she worked at while Erza began to lecture the guild. Sasuke listened in on the berating, feeling his stomach sink. Just what was Fairy Tail like these days?

“I think the guild has the same destructive reputation,” the Uchiha sighed, suddenly wishing that his water was something stronger.

“We were destructive too, bastard,” Naruto pointed out, causing Sasuke to sigh.

“I know. Please don’t remind me,” he groaned, hitting his head on the bar counter. Maybe brain damage could help him forget their stupidity in their earlier days. The berating stopped, and it caught the attention of the shinobi duo. Was the redhead leaving?

“Natsu, Gray. You’re coming on a mission with me. I’ve heard rumors of some trouble going on surrounding an ancient object, called Lullaby,” she announced, addressing the fire and ice pair. Sasuke’s head snapped up as a flood of emotions ran through him. Naruto noticed his Sharingan spin to life.

“Sasuke, calm down,” he muttered, placing a calming hand on his shoulder.

“I can’t. It’s one of  _ his _ demons,” the Uchiha hissed. It was unlikely that Zeref actually cared about his demons, but Sasuke was ready to exact some revenge. Naruto couldn’t really blame him.

“A mission?” Natsu piped up curiously, dropping the act for the moment.

“Yes. It is something I can’t do on my own,” Erza said. Murmurs passed through the guild. Something Erza couldn’t handle? It must be big.

“Alright!” Natsu cheered, excited at the prospect of a new and challenging quest.

Mira turned to Naruto and Sasuke. “I want you to join them on their mission along with Lucy. Try to prevent as much damage as possible and try to keep Natsu and Gray from fighting,” she requested. “The three of them may be Fairy Tail’s strongest team,” the whitette mused aloud.

“Will do!” Naruto grinned, giving her a thumbs up. “Come on, asshole, Lucy!” He announced, draping his arm around Sasuke’s shoulder.

“Seriously, idiot?” Sasuke grumbled, rolling his eyes.

Lucy sidled up next to them, falling in step. “Why am I coming with?” She asked.

“Mira wants you to go with us on their mission, apparently as impulse control,” Sasuke sighed, pushing Naruto’s arm off him, only for the blond idiot to put it right back with a shiteating grin. Naruto dragged Sasuke up to Natsu, Gray, and Erza while Lucy trailed not far behind.

“Ah, and who are you three?” Erza asked.

“My name is Lucy,” she said, introducing herself shyly.

“I’m Naruto, and this emo asshole is Sasuke!” He grinned, only yelping slightly when Sasuke pulled on his ear.

Sasuke picked up from there. “Mira is sending the three of us with you on the mission,” he spoke, leaving little to no room for argument.

“Very well! It is always nice to have help. We will meet at the train station tomorrow morning at ten, as it is getting a bit late,” Erza established.

Sasuke nodded before being dragged out of the guild by Naruto with an undignified yelp. “Idiot, what the hell are you doing?” The Uchiha growled, not happy about being dragged around by a ragdoll.

“I want to go spar!” Naruto grinned, eager for a good fight.

“I’ll spar you, but quit dragging me,” Sasuke huffed, yanking his hand out of Naruto’s. Since when had the idiot been holding his hand? Whatever, it didn’t matter.

“Race you home!” The blonde challenged before glowing a bright glowing orange and taking off.

“Damnit Naruto!” He cursed. Lightning chakra coated his body as he leapt to the rooftops, taking off across them. Naruto had a major head start, so he wouldn’t be able to beat him home. That was okay though since the blond had to wait for him to get home to make food anyways. As he suspected, Naruto beat him home and was waiting eagerly in their living room.

“I’m surprised you managed to get inside with your tendency for losing your keys,” Sasuke said sarcastically, taking off his cloak and shoes at the front door, noticing that Naruto had done the same. It seemed like the years of nagging paid off after all.

“Hey, I’m not that bad!” Naruto defended himself, crossing his arms petulantly to which the Uchiha gave him a pointed look before heading into the kitchen to make dinner. It was chicken pot pie on the menu, and Sasuke was hungry. It was also easy to make. After a few minutes, Naruto came into the kitchen and sat at the table, watching Sasuke.

“Do you need something?” He asked, efficiently throwing the ingredients together after initially cooking them in a pot. It helped the pie cook faster in the oven.

“I’m hungry,” the blond grumbled, plopping his whole upper body on the table.

“You’ll get to eat in about half an hour,” the Uchiha said, pushing the pie into the oven and setting a timer. He sat down across the table from Naruto with a tired sigh. There were four chairs at their table, and he remembered when one would have been occupied by a happy green eyed blonde girl. Sasuke missed Mavis every single day, and soon they would have to fight a creation of the man who killed her. He had no idea if Zeref was even still alive, but Sasuke resented him for taking his and Naruto’s daughter away from them. She should have lived a full life to a ripe old age, not died before she hit 30. He ground his teeth tightly. Though Lullaby had nothing to do with her death, the demon would still suffer.

“-suke. Sasuke,” Naruto called, waving his bandaged hand in front of the Uchiha’s face.

“Huh? What is it?” Sasuke asked, snapping out of his hate filled thoughts.

“The timer went off,” the blond said. What the hell was that? Sasuke wasn’t one for spacing out.

“Oh, okay,” Sasuke sighed, getting up from his seat. Time went by quickly sometimes. He pulled the pie out of the oven with a mitt, placing it on a wooden heat protector he had on the counter.

Naruto gave Sasuke a scrutinizing look when his back was turned. He was more subdued and easier to irritate than normal. If Naruto had to guess, it would be the fact that Lullaby was linked to Zeref.

“Dinner is ready,” the Uchiha spoke dully, pulling down a pair of plates for himself and Naruto.

“Thanks, Sasuke,” the blonde smiled, cutting himself a slice of the pie. Sasuke only hummed in acknowledgment while cutting himself a piece before sitting down to eat. They ate in silence, something fairly unusual for them. When they were done, Naruto put up the food and the dishes since Sasuke had cooked. Sasuke was virtually silent for the rest of the night, and Naruto was concerned. He had retired to his room early, even though they didn’t need to be up terribly early. It seemed like they wouldn’t be sparring, which was okay.

Naruto went to bed a little after Sasuke. He liked his sleep, almost as much as he liked food. He wouldn’t sleep for very long though. His eyes snapped open in the early hours of the morning, hearing that same tortured cry that he had heard the same day Mavis died.  _ Sasuke.  _ Naruto shot up like a bullet, running to Sasuke’s room, cursing as he tripped on the carpet.

Sasuke woke up to Naruto shaking his shoulder. He brought a shaking hand to his face, feeling the wetness there. Tears? When had he started to cry?

“Sasuke, are you okay?” Naruto asked, looking at the tears on his face and the shakiness of his hand. Normally, Sasuke would say that he was fine and move on. However, he was tired. He shook his head silently, pulling his knees to his chest. Naruto sat next to the Uchiha and wrapped his arm around his shoulders, hoping to give him some sort of grounding. “What happened?”

“It was Mavis,” Sasuke choked out. He could still see her body in the back of his eyelids every time he closed them. Cold and unmoving. He felt his stomach churn at the thought. Sasuke had seen many bodies and created many bodies, but Mavis’ was different.

“I know. I miss her too,” the blond sympathized. He never thought he would hear that scream again, but he supposed neither of them had really processed Mavis’ death.

“I’m gonna try to go back to sleep, and you should too. We have a mission tomorrow,” Sasuke yawned, slipping out from under Naruto’s arm and laying with his back to him. Naruto was lazy and tired. He didn’t feel like walking back to his room, so he laid down with his back to Sasuke’s and fell asleep next to the Uchiha.

______________________________

Sasuke woke up at 8. He was still tired, but he needed to get up and make breakfast. He would let Naruto sleep as long as possible. The Uchiha headed to the kitchen, choosing to make eggs, toast, and bacon for the two of them. It was a filling breakfast, fitting for the mission they had ahead of them.

Naruto woke up to the smell of food cooking, meaning that Sasuke was up and awake. He got out of the Uchiha’s bed and stretched before meandering to his room to take a shower. He wouldn’t confront Sasuke about what happened last night. Though they were close, Naruto knew that Sasuke wasn’t the type to discuss touchy feely stuff with anyone. Thus he would only bring it up if Sasuke brought it up.

Sasuke didn’t plan on bringing up the subject from the previous night. While it still haunted him, he knew that Naruto also struggled with Mavis’ death. He quickly finished the cooking and placed it on the table, waiting for Naruto to come down. It didn’t take long for the blond to come down, lured by the smell of food. It was certainly an effective way to get Naruto to do something.

The blond made his way to the kitchen after his shower, ready for breakfast. His mouth watered at the sight of the food on the table Sasuke had already sat down to eat, and Naruto couldn’t blame him. Sasuke still looked tired, his single eye visibly dull. The previous night wasn’t brought up, as he suspected. However, he would keep a close eye on the Uchiha. Naruto finished his food quickly and placed both Sasuke’s and his dishes in the dishwasher.

“I’m going to go pack a bit,” Sasuke announced before heading to his room. Naruto went off to his own room to pack. They wouldn’t need much, but it was still a good idea to have some backup clothing etc.

Sasuke sighed, running his hand through his hair. It was hard to focus on what he was doing. He mindlessly pulled out a small pack and neatly put a spare set of clothes in it amongst some other things. The uchiha checked it over to make sure he didn’t miss anything before heading to the front door where his cloak and shoes were.

Naruto was already there, putting on his own shoes. Sasuke sat next to him and put on his own shoes before standing up. He draped his cloak over his shoulders and snapped it shut with practiced ease before slinging his pack over his shoulder.

“You ready, bastard?” Naruto asked rhetorically, already knowing what Sasuke’s answer would be. Sasuke simply nodded and stood up, holding his hand out for Naruto. The blond accepted the silent offer and grabbed the Uchiha’s hand to help pull himself up.

“Alright idiot, let's head to the station,” Sasuke smirked, leading the way out the house and taking to the rooftops with Naruto close behind.

From then on, it became a friendly race. It always did. If Naruto could cook worth a damn, they would probably compete in that too. Thankfully for the sake of Sasuke’s sanity and the kitchen, Naruto couldn’t and actually listened when told to not put eggs in the oven. He never listened any time else though. There was a silent mutual agreement to not use chakra for their current race since they had no idea what they would be going into.

_____________________________

Naruto and Sasuke were the first ones to the station, which was unsurprising. Naruto waited with their bags while Sasuke went to go get their tickets so they were ready when the rest of them got there. Lucy arrived just as Sasuke got a hold of the tickets while Natsu and Gray arrived not long after. The last to arrive was Erza, who was trailed by a comically large amount of luggage.

“Ah, I see everyone is here,” she remarked, satisfied by their promptness. Naruto and Sasuke waited on the bench while everyone else went up to the counter for tickets. Sasuke still felt tired from the night before, but stayed awake for the sake of the mission. If only they had coffee.

When everyone returned, they boarded the train and found themselves a set of seats. Sasuke sat next to the window with Naruto to his left and Lucy in the aisle seat. The other three sat on the other side. Due to Natsu’s… incapacitation… Happy chose to sit in Sasuke’s lap, much to the confusion of Erza.

“Happy, how come you chose to sit in his lap?” She asked. The blue cat hardly chose anyone over Natsu.

“Because he gives me good fish!” He chirped, causing Sasuke to sigh and roll his eyes slightly. Naruto held back a grin, seeing that Sasuke didn’t even bother to push the small blue cat off his lap as the train began to move. It didn’t take long for Erza to put Natsu out of his misery by knocking him out.

Lucy perked up slightly, seemingly coming across a thought. “What type of magic do all of you use? I use celestial magic.”

“I use ice magic,” Gray announced, putting his hands together. Frost flowed off of them and a few seconds later, he opened his hands to reveal an ice carving of the guild mark.

“Maybe that’s why you and Natsu don’t get along. You use ice and he uses fire,” she pointed out. Fire and ice were notorious for not mixing well.

“Nah, I just hate his guts,” the ice mage snorted, leaning back on the booth.

“What about you, Erza?” Lucy asked, causing Happy to pipe up.

“Erza’s magic is pretty. And bloody!” The cat smiled disturbingly.

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other. What the hell did that mean? They were also likely to be questioned next, so they either needed to tell the truth, partially the truth, or just lie completely. The last option was by far the worst.

“And what about you two?” The blonde girl inquired, looking to the two shinobi for answers.

“We don’t use magic,” Sasuke sighed. The trip wasn’t long enough to go into detail, but he didn’t want to lie to them. “What we use doesn’t exist anymore.”

“What do you mean ‘doesn’t exist anymore’?” Erza asked suspiciously. Not many magics went extinct. While there weren’t always practitioners, there was usually documentation of it.

“We use something called chakra. No one has it anymore, though magic is close to nature chakra. It is a mixture of mental and physical energies,” the Uchiha explained briefly.

“What does this ‘chakra’ allow you to do?” The redhead asked, not entirely believing it.

“It depends. You can manipulate it in its purest form or you can use a change in chakra nature to alter it. There are also other things, but those are the basics,” Sasuke sighed.

“I see. I’m sure your different areas of expertise will be helpful,” she assured. Erza still had more questions, but the two looked uncomfortable and they still needed to discuss the mission. “Our goal is to find out what Eisenwald is doing with Lullaby. They have a powerful wind mage by the name of Erigor. Eisenwald used to specialize in assassination missions, but once the light guilds banned those missions, they separated and became a dark guild,” the redhead explained. Lucy seemed like she had something on her mind, but chose not to speak it.

With the explanation over, Sasuke leaned his head on the back of the booth and closed his eyes, planning to take a small nap before they had to get down to business. They still had about an hour and a half on the train ride, and Sasuke planned on using every minute of it to catch some shuteye.

______________________________

Sasuke woke up the second the train began to slow down, yawning quietly behind his hand. He felt better after the nap, and the train was arriving at the station. The group stood up and exited the train, only realizing that they had left Natsu behind once the train departed.

“Damnit!” Naruto cursed, looking at the departing train. Taking matters into her own hands, Erza made a bold move and stalked over to the emergency stop lever and pulled it. The train was far away, and someone would eventually start the train again, so Erza took the rest of the group with her to quickly rent a magicmobile for the sake of catching up to the train.

“How exactly do we plan on getting on the train?” Gray asked, climbing into the vehicle.

“We’ll figure that out when we get there!” Erza said, stepping into the driver's seat and quickly starting it up. The car lurched forward as she put the pedal to the metal, following in pursuit of the train.

With Erza arguably driving like a maniac, they trailed the train, which had started to move once again. Gray climbed to the roof of the car in order to look for Natsu on the train. However, he didn’t need to look for very long because the pink haired dragonslayer was flying towards him after jumping out the moving train. Lucy cringed at the sounds of Natsu’s and Gray’s heads knocking together. It sounded painful.

“I was on the train and some dude with weird hair came up to me and called me a fly! He had this weird shadowy magic and dropped a weird stick!” Natsu spit out, confused by the whole encounter. “Said he was from ‘Eisenwald’ or something.”

“Weird stick?” Sasuke asked, having a sinking feeling. “What did the weird stick look like?”

“The top looked like it had a skull with three eyes and the bottom looked like tree roots. There was also some holed down it,” the dragonslayer shrugged.

“Fuck,” Naruto and Sasuke cursed in unison.

“Wait, a three eyed skull? Lullaby? That’s death magic! If they play it they’ll curse everyone in the city!” Lucy exclaimed with a gasp.

“Then we need to hurry!” Erza said urgently, stepping on the gas once more.

“Erza, you’re taking up too much magic power!” Gray shouted over the wind. They would likely need Erza to deal with Eisenwald. They had no idea that Naruto, Sasuke, and Lucy brought to the table in terms of power.

“Then I’ll rely on you and Natsu to fight for me!” She shouted back, confident in their abilities. Gray didn’t respond after that. Taking on a whole dark guild? Erza herself couldn’t do it, so what made her think Natsu and Gray could?

“Lucy, I was gonna tell you something, but I don’t remember what,” Happy piped up, getting a contemplating look on his face.

“Then why tell me?!” she responded angrily, and his ears drooped slightly. The trip was silent after that.

________________________________

When they arrived at the station, there were people standing outside and around. Erza threw the vehicle in park and launched herself out of the driver's seat, marching up to one of the officials.

“Where is Eisenwald?” She ordered, staring into the poor guy’s eyes menacingly.

“I don’t know!” He yelped, only to be knocked out by the terrifying woman. This cycle repeated with about three more people until she found the main entrance of the station.

“Let’s go inside,” the redhead called, and the group cautiously followed. At the entrance, the incapacitated bodies of the soldiers were strewn around the stairs like ragdolls. Sasuke narrowed his eye and put his hand on the hilt of his sword. Whatever happened, it wasn’t good. Naruto looked on edge too. Everyone did. Well everyone except Natsu, who was still out cold from his motion sickness.

In the main room of the station, they found Eisenwald. “Oh look, if it isn’t the flies,” Erigor smirked down from one of the speaker poles.

Sasuke stepped forward. “What do you intend to do with the Lullaby?” He growled. He had a general idea, but answers would be nice.

“You light guild flies wouldn’t understand,” he hissed. “You have all the safety and freedom in the world to do what you want, but you don’t acknowledge it for us dark guilds! You cast us out and excommunicate us and treat us like trash!” Erigor accused. “However with the Lullaby flute, we can finally show you light guilds what it’s like.”

“So why do you not petition the courts? Killing people won’t get your rights back.” Lucy shouted. “Things can change if you try to make change!”

“No. Rights are useless at this point. With the Lullaby, we can rid the world of your light guilds and build a new system. We can rewrite history!” He laughed, standing up from his crouching position.

“Thankfully, none of you will be here to see it!” The man with the pineapple hair grinned viciously before attacking Lucy.

“I remember that smell,” Natsu muttered, getting off Lucy’s back and countering the man. A moment later, Erigor disappeared with the wind.

“Natsu, forget Kageyama. Take Gray and find Erigor,” she commanded. They ran off to the side halls of the station to find Erigor, only to be followed by Kageyama. “Now… time to deal with you lot,” Erza announced, turning to the rest of the guild.

Sasuke stepped forward and activated his Sharingan while drawing his sword. Some members of the dark guild began to laugh.

“Do you really think some guy with one arm and a sword can beat us? We have swords too!” One of them mocked, drawing his own weapon to engage the old shinobi.

Lightning chakra coated Sasuke’s sword and less than a moment later, he engaged the guild. He spent less than a second with each member. For the sake of guild laws, Sasuke merely incapacitated the members instead of killing them. In the time of ninja, he would have. The Uchiha made his way through their ranks as if he were cutting through butter. There was no real resistance from them, not that he expected any. The fight went about as quickly too. With lightning chakra and the Sharingan, they didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell.

Sasuke looked around him at the groaning dark guild members with disdain, sheathing his sword and deactivating his eye. He walked back to the group with a quiet sigh.

“Like always, you steal all the fun you asshole,” Naruto grinned, clapping Sasuke on the shoulder.

“If you wanted a piece, then you should’ve asked,” Sasuke snorted.

Erza watched their interaction silently. While she was grateful she didn’t need to expend any more magical energy, the redhead was slightly suspicious. They only got a brief explanation of what they used. Nothing on the origin or anything. Sasuke was just as skilled with a sword as she was, perhaps even more. Different magic or not, even she could feel the power lingering in the air. Erza would be hard pressed to call what happened a fight. It was a massacre. “We need to hurry. We don’t know if Erigor is still here, and we need to warn the citizens. Lucy, one mage escaped. Find him. Naruto, Sasuke, you’re with me,” Erza commanded, taking the lead. Lucy nodded and went off down the halls to find the wayward dark guild mage.

Naruto and Sasuke followed Erza to the top of the station, where Erza snagged a megaphone to speak to the citizens. Naruto and Sasuke leaned on the wall of the station while Erza made her announcement.

“Listen to me! The dark guild that has taken over this station plans on using a death spell! Run from here, and run as far away as you can!” She shouted. The chaos started as people clambered to run far away. They were lucky. A few moments later, a giant wind wall formed around the station, separating the two of them from Erza.

“Shit!” Naruto exclaimed, running up to the giant wall of wind to try and get to Erza. That wouldn’t matter in a few seconds as the redhead would be launched through the wall of wind and try to lunge at it, only to get the back of her arm torn up from the turbulent air. Sasuke and Naruto helped Erza to her feet.

“It’ll tear you up,” Sasuke grunted. “We need to get back to Natsu, Lucy, and Gray so we can regroup and figure out a plan.” Erza nodded and led the two of them inside to find the rest of their motley group. They needed to get out of Erigor’s trap as fast as possible, and trying to recklessly fight something wasn’t the way to do it.


	6. Author’s Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do I need to preface this?

So between working and moving back into college, I haven’t been able to get much writing done. Im moving back because the college I go to is too far away if I need to get help from the professors.It’s been stressful and I’m exhausted. Yeah it’s kind of a pathetic excuse, but I generally come home and sleep. I should have the next chapter uploaded by the upcoming Friday. I hate to push it a week out, but I need to do it so that I can have time to write and not be dead on my feet. I’m not abandoning this story, so don’t worry about that. I am working on other stories, and I am debating posting them once I get far enough in. I’ll do my best to put up the next chapter next Friday, but I can’t right now. If you read all of this, then thank you for listening to my mini rant. I hope that whoever is reading this has a wonderful day/night and stays safe!


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